1. Technical Field
The technology disclosed herein relates to a telescoping lens barrel.
2. Background Information
Imaging devices that produce image data about a subject have rapidly gained popularity in recent years. A lens barrel for adjusting the focal distance is mounted in these imaging devices. Examples of known imaging devices include cameras with an integrated lens and those with an interchangeable lens. A lens barrel is built into an integrated type of camera. A camera with an interchangeable lens includes a camera body and a lens barrel that can be mounted to the camera body.
A conventional lens barrel is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 562-259816, for example. With this lens barrel, the focal distance can be adjusted, or the desired main subject put into focus, by moving a lens group along the optical axis direction. Here, the lens group is moved manually along the optical axis direction. Also, the lens group is moved along the optical axis direction by rotating a helicoid barrel to adjust the focal distance.